Nothing Wrong With That
by AstronomicalDragon
Summary: Based on the prompt 'I spelled your name wrong on your coffee cup and you got mad so I kept doing it just to piss you off even more.'


Izuku happened to be under the impression that he got by just fine. A little on-the-side barista-style hustling to go along with his hectic university life really helped out in terms of finance.

A couple calm afternoons and a Saturday a week wasn't much to give up in favour of being able to consume a little more than just ramen noodles every day. The coffee shop tended to get quiet on the weekend - with no office workers hustling around trying to drink their soul back into their bodies. The quiet murmur of patrons sitting by the sunlit windows and the hiss of the expresso dispenser he was manning became his soundtrack, the music on the speakers fading into the background between managing orders.

Sure, he could admit the extra money was nice, but mainly this was a means of getting out of his dorm in between the long ancient history lectures and interact with a different circle of people (even if some of them were customers who could be labelled as frustrating at best).

Plus, he really enjoyed the way the bitter scent of the coffee mixed with the sweet smell of the freshly baked pastries each Saturday morning.

On the other hand, he had to admit… working in the service industry kinda sucked. Okay, no, it was a major bummer. Nothing quite like having someone give him shit for not getting their venti mermaid Frappuccino with extra everything the exact shade of magenta to match their Instagram theme. As far as he was concerned it was an insult to the actual coffee to have the monstrosity of a drink share the same menu.

 _Ah, that beautiful godsend of a beverage that could get him through almost any uni day._

Even so, Midoriya took pride in his banal day-to-day tasks. He could work the expresso machine like an expert. His latte art was top tier instagram material. And yet, no amount of introductory training could have ever hoped to prepare him for the crankiness of caffeine addicts trying to acquire their early morning fix.

Case in point – the fuming blond bombshell of a man currently staring him down like Izuku was a speck of particularly sticky _substance_ of an unknown originwhich had decided to take up residence on one of his bright red sneakers.

 _What?_ The barista wanted to say, from where he was currently half hidden behind the worn wooden counter. _You ordered a black coffee. You haven't even tasted it yet. I can't have fucked it up badly enough for you to have a complaint already._

Instead, he offered what he hoped to be an unassuming smile.

"Is everything alright, sir?" He enquired, tilting his head as the stranger crinkled his nose at him.

"No," the blond customer replied after a brief second of pissed-off contemplation. "You somehow managed to spell my name wrong. It's three fucking syllables long. _BA-KU-GOU._ Are you illiterate or something?" The man exclaimed, waving the paper coffee cup as if he were brandishing a weapon.

Midoriya took a moment to just blink at him.

It was a Saturday morning. A time of rest, and peace, and happiness.

And apparently extremely irritable but sort of attractive strangers bursting in to make his futile time on earth more difficult than it had to be.

Though, he didn't doubt he may have had his own share of blame in this, considering he'd relaxed to the point of cruising on mental autopilot for the past half hour or so.

Not that the reaction he received from the man currently glowering at him was in any way warranted. As far as Izuku was concerned the outside of the cup was absolutely irrelevant in comparison to the sweet substance within.

He sighed and resolved himself to the usual customer pleasing drivel.

"Oh! I apologise for my mistake, I suppose it's too early in the morning, and my brain hasn't quite switched on yet." He went for a timid twirl of his fingers and gave the man his best I _'m-so-sorry-I-fucked-up-oh-great-representative-of-the-customer-Gods_ look.

The man did not appear appeased.

Had Izuku been a lesser man he'd have rolled his eyes.

Izuku could see a small line already forming at the other end of the counter. Their zombified patrons did not seem to be enjoying having to wait for their fix. He frowned as he felt a twinge in his left temple.

Hottie McBad-Attitude over here had better get his rant over with quickly. Uraraka was running majorly late and he didn't want to deal with even more snowballing snark from cranky customers who had to wait to be served.

The blond threw a glance in same direction before continuing. The utter audacity.

"Look, I don't give a shit if this is your cute way of sticking to the trends or whatever but I'd like to _not_ carry round a cup with this written on it." He gestures at the cup wildly with his free hand.

Izuku looks at it.

It reads _BAKU._

 _Yup. That was definitely me,_ he thought. He may or may not have had a tendency to shorten names. It made the whole process just a little faster, and usually their customers were nothing if not thankful for the gesture.

Then again… he still saw nothing wrong with it.

"It's kind of cute though, right?" He ventured before his brain managed to catch up to his mouth. His gaze whipped to the strangers - _Bakugous-_ face, and he caught a startled hint of shock before the blonds' own mind caught up, and it morphed into more frustration.

"You're insane," His customer proclaimed after little deliberation. "I'll let it go today, but watch yourself, asshole." He turned on his heel and stormed out of the café at a hurried pace, almost colliding with someone coming in at the door.

Izuku blinked in shock at the rapid exit, before allowing himself a small grin. _What a weirdo._

He couldn't wait to gossip with Uraraka about the slight blush the angry blond was sporting prior to his retreat.

The guy couldn't even manage to pretend to be casual as he basically ran away from the situation.

 _Now, Izuku had better get to serving that line of caffeine junkies before he really gets chewed out._

The next time Izuku saw the blond was exactly a week later. He looked up from the latte art swan he was practicing on a stale cup of coffee which had gotten turned down for one reason or another. The double take he did almost gave him whiplash.

 _Baku_ stood across the counter, looking sheepish and seemingly unable to make eye contact. He was scratching the back of his neck, reaching over to tug his baseball cap down over his eyes a little.

An awkward silence ensued as Izuku tried to deduce what the hell his reaction should be.

"I…" Bakugou began, at the same time as Midoriya finally snapped to attention only to chatter out the usual drivel.

"What can I do for you… today?" He asked lamely. This was strange. He hadn't been expecting to see the explosive stranger again, let alone so soon. God only knows there are more than enough generic cafes in the neighbourhood, with plenty unsuspecting baristas to terrorise. Surely the blond could entertain himself elsewhere.

Though maybe he was under the impression that Izuku was particularly fun to terrorise. After all, that appeared to be a recurring theme. From middle school to high school Izuku had been slighted for his slight build, ostracised for being smaller and quieter than the other boys. By the time he'd gathered himself enough to do some jogging and bulk up, the other lads had mostly grown out of their behaviour and they'd all been about to split paths for their grown-up lives anyway.

Bakugou broke his train of thought.

"I… Er…" He tried again, cutting himself off before getting to the point. "Can a get a plain black coffee, please?" He paused again. "Honestly I don't even blame you if you spit in it or whatever." He divulged, eyes flickering to meet Izukus' momentarily, before training themselves on the wall somewhere just behind his left shoulder.

Izuku, meanwhile, was dumbstruck.

"I don't understand." He deadpanned. This is certainly not how he expected this unexpected interaction to go.

Yet, as the spirit of a barista was so deeply ingrained within him, he couldn't help himself from moving away to the expresso machine, working it out of habit. It also saved him having to look at the blond who was sneaking glances at him all the while. "I expected you to… well…"

He was really struggling here.

Can't exactly just rat out a patron, right.

"Be an asshole again?" The other finished the sentiment in his stead. Now, Midoriya wasn't one to explicitly agree to a statement like that when facing a customer, but he let the heavy pause speak for him.

Turning and leaning on the countertop behind him, trying to appear as casual as possible, he looked the fiery man up and down. Izuku was acutely aware that he was failing miserably at the whole suave lean thing.

"I won't spit in your coffee. I try not to take my anger out on people if I can help it." He drawled.

Delightfully enough, blondie had the gall to look _guilty._

"Yeah, that's probably a better idea." He conceded, refusing to make eye contact with anything but the sleek black floor tiling their manager was adamant made the place look stylish, but really just helped hide the scuffle marks inevitably caused by the amount of traffic the till got.

Another unbearably awkward silence ensued, the background din of talking patrons not easing their tension in the slightest. Izuku was going to lose his mind.

Then, the mans eyes snapped to stare straight into his, and he straightened as if overcome with some new conviction. Midoriya barely had time to assume another yelling spree was imminent, but the blond surprised him yet again.

"I want to apologise for treating you the way I did." He paused, took a deep breath, "You certainly didn't deserve to bear the onslaught of my misdirected anger, and I shouldn't have struck out at you for nothing like that. You have to deal with frustrated people all day anyway. I'm sorry if I negatively effected your mood or work. I just wanted to come to say that. It was gnawing on me. I won't be bothering you again, okay." The blond finished quietly and quickly, almost too gently for Izuku to distinguish the words.

To say he was surprised would be one hell of an understatement. He was shocked. Misdirected anger he was used to… But a genuine apology from someone who otherwise could have just avoided him till the end of time itself? That was unprecedented.

He nodded mutedly, but before either of them managed to say anything else, someone cleared their throat behind Bakugou, who immediately turned the particular shade of red that can only be found on a stop sign.

He looked ready to bolt again.

Then, Izuku made a split-second decision, and instead of handing the cup off to him and waving his goodbyes, words shot out of his mouth before he could think better of them.

"Go sit, I'll bring your drink to you." He said, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. Why would he voluntarily subject himself to spending more time around Mr. Firecracker over here?

To his credit, Bakugou looked hesitant, but as the other customer basically elbowed him out of the way he seemed to accept his fate, dejectedly trudging off towards the seating area.

Midoriya served the customer as quickly as he could, not fully understanding himself why he was in a rush.

Once done, he popped his head into the break room where Uraraka was lounging on their gross couch which was covered in questionable stains and waved to get her attention.

"Hey, sorry to disturb your union sanctioned break and all, but could you take over for a minute, pretty please?" He fluttered his eyelashes with as much exaggeration as he could manage and joined his palms in a praying gesture. "I just need to go sort something out, won't be long!" He promised.

She rolled her eyes but giggled and made to get up all the same.

"What's the cause of alarm this time, my fair lady?" She teased. "Has someone been picking on your spelling skills again? I did say you should keep a dictionary close by!"

Izuku did his best to imitate the glare he'd received from the blond a weeearlier but couldn't hold back a small laugh.

"Actually…" He began, leaving a purposeful pause as he scratched his nose.

"No way!" She exclaimed, bouncing to her feet. "Show me the one who dares cross you, and I'll have them sorted out in no time!" She asserted, mimicking punching motions in the air as if she was beating up some imaginary transgressor.

Considering that she was a black belt some part of Izuku was worried she may have been serious. And, not to discredit the short-tempered blondie, Uraraka would win hands down. Against anyone in a ten-mile radius. All at once. He was certain.

"I'm kidding!" He assured, waving it off. "Please don't karate chop any of our customers into an early grave."

"It's not an early grave if they were asking for it." She informed him, and with that she floundered out of their dingy break room and into their far more hospitable café.

Izuku gave one last wistful look at the damp smelling mould in the corner of the ceiling and went to face his own little problem.

He grabbed the slightly cooling black coffee he had left on the side as he went and gave Ochako a tight smile as he walked into the warmly lit room full of empty tables.

And there was blondie, sat alone at a corner table looking like he'd give anything to be able to camouflage against the antique brown wallpaper. He was practically hiding behind a large potted plant.

With a little less prior exposure to the man Izuku may have thought it a rather endearing image.

As it was, he was pretty much dying on the inside and cursing his impulse decisions. He should have just let the blond leg it for the second time.

He gave a small smile as he set the cup in front of the blond and plopped in the chair across from him, hoping a little that it would swallow him up.

A couple tense moments passed before he gathered his wits enough to actually speak.

"Thanks," he murmured. "For the apology, I mean."

The blond across from him nodded minutely, staring into his coffee cup like it held all the secrets of the universe.

"Not everyone would have come back." He continued, looking at the blond intently. "I'm kinda glad you did. You… shouldn't avoid the place just because of me, or anything, just as long as you keep a bit calmer in the future. My coworker's already volunteered to clobber you karate style if you, well…" Izuku paused again, studying the man across from him.

"Be an asshole again?" A tentative smile crept onto Bakugous' face, and Midoriya couldn't help himself from returning it.

He found his eyes wandering his unlikely companion. Hair that looked like it had experienced a rather unfortunate run in with a fork and an outlet, eyes sharper than knives, twin skull studs in his ears. He looked like a punk.

Izuku was into it.

"So," He began, dying to rid them of the awkward silence. "You have any hobbies besides tormenting innocent baristas, or is that just your usual modus operandi?"

Bakugou somehow managed to look the perfect mix of amused and offended.

"You bet. This is basically the only coffee place I'm not banned from yet." He supplied.

"Ah, a man of true culture, I see." Izuku was beginning to relax into the conversation. "No wonder you're cranky, nowhere to get that caffeine rush, huh?"

Bakugou leant back, crossing his arms with an unfairly attractive scowl.

"I'll have you know I drink it for the taste." He grumbled. Midoriya watched as a tendon in his neck moved with each word.

"You're an awful liar." He declared. "Black coffee tastes like ass. It's alright to admit it." He shrugged, leaning back himself. "I promise I won't blow your cover." He gave the blond a quick wink just to see what reaction he could elicit.

The response did not disappoint. The man across from him quickly gained a warmth to his cheeks, suddenly reverting to avoiding all eye contact as if it were deadly.

Izuku heaved a desolate sigh to himself.

He'd known he had no game, but it was still sad.

Then again, who would've guessed the edgy kid with anger issues surrounding coffee cups could be _shy._

"I stand firmly by my coffee preferences. You're awful critical of it yourself as a barista." Blondie shot back.

Izuku could do nothing but shrug.

"Well, it's a job not a lifestyle. Sure, I chug the stuff myself like my life depends on it but at least I don't pretend to enjoy it." The proclamation earned him a pissy glare from his rowdy companion, but Izuku returned the stare with equal force.

Before he could antagonise the other man any further, Bakugou shook his head with clear amusement even as he deemed proving his point a lost cause.

"What is your lifestyle, then?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, it mainly revolves around throwing away about thirty thousand for a degree which most likely won't supply me with a stable job anyhow, but you know, that's just how it is sometimes." Izuku deadpanned. Blondies eyes widened as he choked down his latest gulp of coffee. It hurt how close to home that struck.

"What degree?" He asked.

"Ancient history." Midoriya offered. "I promise it's not as boring as people assume. Nothing more interesting than finding out the sheer magnitude of the beef people had with each other. Plus, there was a lot of murder."

"That doesn't sound too bad. I'm doing engineering and I swear my professor is actively trying to kill me."

Midoriya huffed.

"Tell me about it, mine is pretty much conspiring to fail the entire year at this point." He complained, thinking of his hermit of a professor. "He keeps going on about logical ruses or something, and then promptly falling asleep instead of giving our lectures."

"That sounds like a fun time, honestly." Bakugou mused.

"Oh, it is. Last time someone actually got up and started giving their own lecture instead." Midoriya said. He fidgeted a little, glancing to the side where Uraraka was busying herself with an influx of customers.

Bakugou noticed.

"I should go." He blurted quickly, draining the remains of his coffee. "Thank you," He continued as he got up, shrugging the bomber jacket which he's hung on the back of the chair back on. "For… forgiving my shitty behaviour. And being cool about it."

Izuku took it as the cue to stand too.

"Erm..." He began, unsure how exactly to articulate what he wanted to say. "You should… come by again sometime. If it's not out of the way." He looked at Bakugou, who seemed almost as unsure as the barista felt. That, at least, was reassuring.

He left the suggestion up in the air, and a couple of awkward moments passed.

"Okay…" He heard Bakugou murmur. "I'll be around next Saturday."

Midoriya nodded hesitantly.

"See you then?"

For whatever reason, Bakugou looked at him as he were seeing him for the first time.

Bearing in mind the sequence of events that lead them up to this point, Midoriya _really_ couldn't blame him for the disbelief.

"Yeah." The blond replied, before fleeing the scene again, leaving a confused Izuku to his own devices.

Well, he supposed, at least now he had something to look forward to.

Nothing wrong with that.


End file.
